Fix You
by VMLOV83
Summary: After the loss of Finn Rachel returns home to try and help fix broken, hurting friend.


_Note: this idea came to me a few days ago. I had never read Glee fanfic before so I just wanted to see if there would be any interest and make sure this storyline hasn't been done. At the moment it is just background information the real story would start with chapter 2. _

Chapter 1

Six months. A lot could change in six months. A friend could die suddenly without warning. Brain aneurysm. It could turn your world upside down.

When Burt recovered from cancer he and Carole decided to take the honeymoon the never got. Finn was helping out at the garage while they were gone. Because he was going to college, helping out with glee as they approached Nationals the only time he had for the garage was after hours. He had been tired, overworked and took a few advil when the headache started. The next morning he was found still half under a car. At first it was believed that he had just fallen asleep and the other employees enjoyed a laugh at his expense. As they got to work no amount of noise seemed to disturb the younger man.

Finn had talked to Burt after Puck had moved back to Lima. His friend had always been good at cars, keeping his moms running long after it should have died. They would often be working side by side into the night enjoying each other's company as they worked. From time to time Puck would get a gig at one of the bars around town. Music was still an outlet for Puck. Not many people knew he wrote songs in his free time. He had dreams, dreams he did not think he disserved.

Noah 'Puck' Puckerman was the first suspect there was something wrong. Since their chat about becoming more serious about college Fin had not missed a class.

"Hey man," Puck tapped his foot, "it's nearly nine, time to wake up sleeping beauty,"

Getting no response Puck kicked his foot a little harder,

"Finn?"

Puck pulled Finn out from under the car. Finn did not react and as his face appeared Puck stumbled a little,

"Call 911!" he yelled to anyone listening as he dropped to the floor shacking his friend.

Finn eyes were open, cold as they stared up at the ceiling. Someone pushed Puck aside and checked for a pulse as everyone gathered around.

"He doesn't have a pulse," a voice said,  
"Well do CPR, what are you waiting for…?" Puck yelled at him.  
"His cold, he's gone," a hand was placed on Pucks shoulder, "sorry man, it's too late."

GLEE

Kurt received the call as spring came to New York and with Rachel and Santana they rushed back to Lima. Burt and an inconsolable Carole met them at the airport as they too returned home. One by one all the former glee club members returned to Lima. Because of college most could not stay long. They took the time to catch up, remembering Finn.

Everyone walked around on egg shells around Rachel expecting her to break at any moment. Puck couldn't even look her in the eye. By the time they all left town again it was Puck they worried about. He avoided them, showed up drunk to the funeral and when Santana and Quinn approached him he blew them off.

After Finn had passed away Rachel had thrown herself even more into making her dreams came true. She finished the year at the top of her NYADA class and had stated working on the Funny Girl workshop. She was not the star that she believed one day she would be, but she was in the chorus as well as understudy for Fanny Brice. The producers and director were impressed with her audition but had decided to go with someone who had a little more experience. Rachel was okay with this. It surprised her how okay with it she was. A few years ago she would have had a diva fit and walked away. But her years in glee and the friendship she had formed had changed her.

The problem was Rachel felt guilty. She felt like she was forgetting Finn and what he had meant to her, she had nearly given up her dreams to be with him, nearly chosen him over New York… Broadway. She realized when he died that even though she loved Finn, would always love him, she was not in love with him anymore and almost 6 months after his sudden death it felt like her life was finally starting.  
Sharing a loft with Kurt and Santana was working out as the trio continue becoming closer. During the summer Rachel and Santana had found jobs as singing waitresses at Stardust Dinner in Times Square to make extra money and were having the time of their lives.

For 6 months she avoided returning to Lima. She pushed away thoughts of home and what was no longer there. But then she got the call that sent her running home for the second time that year.

GLEE

Rachel had two dads. LeRoy was a lawyer and Hiram was a doctor. Even with such busy careers they would drop everything if she beckoned. They were aware that at times she had problems at school but new she was strong and that her dreams of the future would get her through. When Finn had entered the picture they saw her change. It was like extra weight pulling her down, holding her back. It was a relief when they watched her leave for New York. It wasn't that they didn't like the boy their daughter fell in love with… it was more that they could see that depth was missing. They knew Rachel thought it was love but believed it to be more about loving the idea of being loved by someone other than her fathers and getting to be with someone how would improve her high school existence. Make her an equal amongst her peers, fitting into the world around her.

Hiram was the one who called bringing him back to town. He was working in the emergency department at Lima General Hospital when a young man with alcohol poisoning was brought in he knew what  
needed to be done. Hiram recognized Noah Puckerman almost straight away. He had watched him grow up at temple. Seen a family fall apart from a distance. He and Rachel had never been close growing up. They grew up on opposite sides of town, him from a broken home, her with 2 loving dads. Years later they watched them perform together in glee. At these events they had met Sarah Puckerman.

Sarah did not get to see her son perform often due to work but loved to see him shine on stage whenever she had the chance. She knew he wasn't the star of the group but for the first time in years she saw a softer happier side in him. On stage he glowed, she could see through the wall he had built up around himself. Life had been hard on the Puckerman family and it had changed her little boy. Mistakes were made, getting his best friends girlfriend pregnant, being sent to juvie, he was trying to turn it around. It had been at sectional sophomore year that she first noticed the way Noah watch Rachel Berry. As soon as the curtains rose she could see his eyes follow her around the stage. There was something different about this girl and the way he looked at her and over the next few years she knew there were other girls but on stage his eyes never strayed.

After High School Noah had become lost, he had tried to escape Lima only to be pulled back. Discovering a half brother had clinched the deal and he had moved back. Working at Burt's garage and having Finn also in town helped but he no longer glowed as he did before. With Finn death her worries returned full force. Noah was not coping. He had stopped singing and playing his guitar altogether. He no longer wrote. As much as it hurt him Burt had to let him go after turning up drunk to work and getting in a fight. She had bumped into the Berry's one day at the supermarket and several coffees later had revealed her anguish in her son's pain. He needed someone to talk too. A male. He had grown up without a real male role model and Burt was too busy with his own families' grief to help his stepson's best friend. Sarah had become scared by the amount her son drank. Not coming home for days and she worried for her daughter. This was not an environment she wanted Mandy in.

Talking had helped and LeRoy and Hiram offer to be available to talk again if she needed it and they swapped numbers. She had not expected to hear from either straight away but within a few days she got a call. A call no mother wants to receive.

* * *

_Is this worth continuing? I might make some changes before getting to far into it so if you have any thoughts or suggestions I'd love to hear them._


End file.
